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Show ' Why the Town of Modena is Destined to Be an Important Point in the Industrial Development of Southern Utah f H 1 4GiO00r30 Mmm As construction, on the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake railroad progresses, pro-gresses, much interest centers In such points as are likely to become towns of size and prominence. Curiosity asserts itself after one leaves Milford, and the more recently built portion of the Salt Lake route Is traversed as to the possibilities of the different points becoming commercial centers. To Utahns, that portion formerly known as the Utah and Pacific railway, rail-way, extending seventy-three miles from Milford to the Nevada State line, is of importance, as it Is the first link built that combines to complete the chain of Interstate commerce and transportation to aud from the Pacific coast. A zreat many -with speculative proclivities, pro-clivities, or contemplating some small business venture, are alert to learn the Intentions of the San Pedro Rallrpad company, and imagine that whatever place is selected by that company for a division or terminal point, is destined des-tined to become a substantial town. POINTS OF VANTAGE. While it Is undeniable that wherever a railroad company decides to establish estab-lish a roundhouse, shops, fuel and supply sup-ply depots, St assures the building of a town of no mean proportions, owing to the number of employes that will reside re-side there, It Is fallacious to believe that such a selection guarantees superiority su-periority over other places not so fa,-vored. fa,-vored. The growth of a town after all, depends upon its natural resources. THE PRODUCING MINES. A few producing mines, a great contiguous con-tiguous agricultural belt, ' a common center, or distributing point for a considerable con-siderable and well-populated section of country are prime factors, and Immeasurably Im-measurably ahead of most of the things that contribute to the growth' of a place. The writer does not believe that tho curiosity of the business element of Utah will travel far beyond the Itah State line, owing to' the advantage advan-tage Los Angeles has in the lower terminal freight rates and the" cheaper ocean transportation of freight to San Pedro harbor, and he therefore Is inclined in-clined ' to favor Modena, regardless of the heritage of roundhouses, shops or other railroad ,appurtcnances that may como to places further ajong the. line. MODENA IS GROWING. ' This reminds me that Modena la growing. Two years ago this embryonic em-bryonic place appeared but little larger than a dot as shown on the railroad maps. An insignificant station building, build-ing, known as the "daypo," and three or four tents that looked like hard times after weathering the violence of several windstorms, made up the toute. m ensemble of desolation. CHANGE WAS CAUSED At thiK time the Oregon Short Line company became owners of the line and pushed the track westward a few miles. The Pacific Hotel company of Omaha next located a dining tent here and ln-stalled ln-stalled a youthful servitor from some Eastern railroad caravansary as man-agcr. man-agcr. This young man appreciated Modena fully as much as docs the writer. He had? never filled so high an Wm office before and wrote to aSvholesale druggist he knew in New York City and who bad been to St. George; Utah,, for the alleviation of lung trouble; "I am now manager of a dining station at Modena. No doubt you know where 1 that is," to which the Gothamltc re-lprlcd; re-lprlcd; "Modena! Modena! plot's see, L where is Modena? Oh, yes; I do re-member re-member a little red depot, a tent aud 1 a pile of tin cans. Surely that must be H i it." Well, the tin cans have been moved and the depot has been remod- L eled and extended over and beyond the j spot where tho cans reposed . In obnoxl-ous obnoxl-ous profusion. AFTER ANCIENT MODENA, H Modena, named In lho spirit of Hl prophecy after the Modena of ancient Egypt, is located in the southwestern i end of the Escalente valley In Iron county, and Is one of the chief points In Utah for meteorological observations, j The Agricultural Department has built here a fine two-story building; fur-j fur-j nished with every convenience for Its resident observer and equipped with every Instrument used at any of ihe larger weather bureau stations In this country. The town contains two hotels, ho-tels, a first-class general merchandise store, where tobacco is sold with the tag on, an active and reliable forwarding forward-ing company, a first-class dispensary of wet goods, 'lighted by acetylene gas, a newspaper devoted to Western mining min-ing news, an assay ofTlce and good feed corrals and stables. Two stage lines leave Modena dally with mail for Fay, Nov., and Statellne, Utah, connection being made at Statellne with. a stage line to Ploche, Nev. A stage Also leaves twice a. week for St. George. A telephone line connects Modena with Fay and Statellne, and a line Is under construction and nearly completed, which will give direct communication with St George and intermediate points. There are pens here for shearing shear-ing 75,000 head of sheep and fully that number will be sheared tills season, beginning about April 10th. A postmaster. post-master. Justice of the Peace, constable, notary public and deputy sheriff comprise com-prise the list of officials. The people of Modena are hospitable and ready to welcome anything or anyone that is likely to bring renown and profit to the place. WHERE MODENA STANDS. Modeua Is situated in what is erroneously er-roneously termed the Fscalante desert. Wlillet it is true that there are no running run-ning streams of water traversing this valley, still vegetation - flourishes and ahe so-called desert is really a sage brush plain or valley, made desert-like in spots by the numerous flocks of sheep which for the greater portion of the year graze in it and clear the land of herbiage so completely that an Angora goat would feel as though he had nothing noth-ing to do. Encompassing the valley are mountains ranging in height from 500 to perhaps 5000 feet. From the foo hills of these mountains there is obtained ob-tained a sufficient .supply of exceptionally excep-tionally pure water for any place of 8000 or 10,000 inhabitants". $30,000 WATER MAIN. Two years ago the Oregon Short Line company, at the expense of $30,000, laid a four-Inch water main to certain springs well up in the foot hills, five miles from Modena, and an excellent gravity flow Is obtained, the- fall being over 400 feet in that distance. The overflow from this pipe line meanders across the valley for several miles before be-fore It Is entirely absorbed by the porus soil. NOT COMPLETE YET. Now the writer does not desire to conyey tho impression that Modena is already a place of size and prominence, but aims to , point out certain possibilities possi-bilities that are likely to make it a town of several thousand, or more, population at no distant day. In the first place It is favorabls' situated, as neany an the oio established estab-lished wagon roads cross or converge from here. The' MUford-De La Mar Pioche roads, as well as the roads to Cedar City, St. George and Intermediate .points, pass through Modena. As stated above, the stages for Fay and State Line connect with the trains here. It is a natural distributing point More freight Is received at this point than at any other station on the San Pedro railroad south of Salt Lake City, excepting Provo and possibly Milford. A business of $10,000 per month is admitted ad-mitted by the railroad officials. The total business done here annually reaches very nearly $200,000, which, considering con-sidering its population, makes Mt one of the busiest places In the country. Fay, Nev., destined to become one of the greatest gold .camps, and State Line, a camp of equal merit, will be contributors to the future growth of Modena, which Itself has great possibilities possi-bilities of becoming a productive ml-ulng ml-ulng camp at no remote period, as strong mineral Indications are found all around It The lack of means on the part of the- present owners of mining property )ias kept Modena in the background, back-ground, while a 'singular and perverse skepticism has made It difficult to obtain Qutslde financial aid. MTNESNEAR AT HAND. The fact that what prospects are to bo found here are only from one-half to a mile and a half from the railway and in the sagg-coverpd vale?? and foot hills, seems ta operate against them. The- "Svrlter must confess to a like skepticism and a disinclination to look OREGON SHORT LINE DEPOT AT MODENA. around when one of theowners of the Desert Wonder Group pointed to several sev-eral low lying ridges almost within a stone's throw of the depot, where a flock of sheep were quietly grazing, as tho spot of a, coming bonanza. Imagine the writer's surprise in finding find-ing then a really meritorious prospect A shaft down some twenty feet discloses dis-closes a vein of quartz and brown spar carrying gold and silver values and a hanging wall of hematite going over 60 per cent Iron. Not more than 200 feet west and on the same property Is a well equipped prospect shaft down some fifty feet in a large vein of quartz and auriferous iron pyrites that should Induce any mining man of experience to venture his all. It may be as one of the owners remarked: "Mines at the grass roots are not uncommon In same localities, but this sage is a change of fodder that don't take so well." NEARER THE FOOT HILLS. A mile further on. In among the foot hills, is a very promising low-grade, free milling gold and silver-bearing property known as the Oro, owned by a number of railroad employees, v;ho should lakea course in some school of correspondence' and learn to recognize recog-nize the value of a good thing when it Is within their grasp, or else donate it to charity. These people have a fourteen-foot vein of quartz and barite that is one, of the best defined fissure veins the writer ever saw, carrying about $1 per ton in gold and some silver. A very neat shaft is down to a depth of 100 feet near -a quartz blow-out. It appears the owners expected the bread wagon to call around before the dough was baked, and now refuse to put In money, each individual being fearful le&i iiu pruvu o ue me oiiij ijiiiiuii-throplst ijiiiiuii-throplst In the crowd. These properties, proper-ties, I am told b3' Mr, R. L. Wolf, an experienced ex-perienced mineral scout, who Intelligently Intelli-gently piloted we over the ground, arc likely to fall Into wiser hands this year and receive proper development. One or two good mines would build' up Modena Mo-dena at a remarkable rate. k PLENTY OF FIRE CLAY. , Aside from this I was shown a large deposit d fire clay which is held under option by Salt Lake talent and is being be-ing tested for its fitness in manufacturing manufac-turing a number of commercial products, pro-ducts, besides fire brick. First-class other clays abound here, and the material ma-terial for the manufacture of cement and paving tiles exists in great abundance. abund-ance. About twenty-two miles south-cast south-cast of Modena are located Enterprise and Hebron, five miles apart. The two villages have agreed to unite, the Hebronltes removing to Enterprise. BIG IRRIGATION SCHEME. Where an important irrigating project pro-ject is under way that cannot help but redound to the lasting benefit of Modena. The Enterprise Reservoir and Canal company has been organized organ-ized with a capitalization of $40,000 and a reservoir is under construction In the shape of a dam of several hundred hun-dred feet across Pine Valley canyon, to conserve the waters of what Is known as the Little Pine Valley drainages. drain-ages. The dam is to be built of masonry ma-sonry and, when completed, will be SO feet high and will .taper from a 20-foot 20-foot base to a width of 7 feet at the top. Thirty-six feet of the dam has already been built and $16,000 expended. ex-pended. Sufficient water will be stored to cover 6000 acres 4 Inches deep four times annually. Sufficient stock has been subscribed for tff finish this project. pro-ject. The lands selected for irrigation are fast being settled and the enterprise enter-prise assures to Modena a small but nearby popular agricultural district. Several miles beyond Enterprise is located the experiment farm, under the' auspices of the State Board of Hortl- j culture, where an experiment In dry farming, undec the skilled supervision of Mr. John Day, is being made. WHEAT DOING WELL. About fifteen acres of wheat were sown on this farm last fall, which at the present writing Is in a thrifty condition con-dition and promises a good yield. Profs. Hutt and Merrill of the State agricultural agricul-tural experiment station at Logan, who recently visited the farm, were much pleased with the outlook there, apd thoqght the conditions, especially in regard to moisture, were favorable to the success of the experiment which Is being watched with keen interest. Should it prove moderately successful, it certainly will result In an attempt to cultivate large areas of the Esca-lante Esca-lante valley contiguous to Modena. This reminds the writer that N. H. Darton of the United States hydro-graphic hydro-graphic survey is looking upr water sources, and more particularly such points where a flow' of water nlay bo obtained by sinking wells., for the reclamation of sub-arid lands. Surely no better selection for the determination determina-tion of this could be made elsewhere than In the Escalante valley. From Modena northward for twenty- five miles are great stretches of ideal land as to soli and physical characteristics. character-istics. Miles of this land 'are almost perfectly lovel, an,d that water may be had at no great depth was repeatedly demontrated In former years when cattle cat-tle were extensively grazed In this valley, val-ley, and wells were, often dug to supply sup-ply them with water. Living Is as cheap in Modena as In any place In Utah.. Butter, eggs, poultry, poul-try, vegetables and fruits are obtained In abundance from semi-tropical Dixie, where figs, pomegranates, melons and luscious grapes are also raised. VERY PLEASANT CLIMATE. The climate of Modena is salubrious and offers many Inducements on account ac-count of Its drynesB and lack of excessive ex-cessive heat, to any one eeeking a home. With an elevation of B-176 feet above sea level, the winds do not lmvu the sume force here as at lower elevations. ele-vations. The summer heat, with 9S as the highest point attained, is not excessive, ex-cessive, and, owing to the dryness of the atmosphere, the summer humidity being 34 per cent, the heated season lo not as enervating here as it is at places where the humidity is greater. The nights In summer are delightfully cool. Any one suffering from the worst case of Insomnia would here be cured of his malady, awake every morning from a refreshing slumber, and would feel like- rhapsodizing over the glorious cllmatlo conditions which prevail here. With about SO per cent of sunBhlna and sixty-two clear days, out of ninety-two ninety-two in tho summer months, any one would be able to Inhale copious draughts of pure ozone and take almost al-most dally sun baths. The autumns are almost as pleasant aa tho summers, the winters are not severe, and the springs ai'e rather more pleasant than in many other sections of the country. PLENTY OF SUNSHINE. With an annual average temperature tempera-ture of 43, a humidity of 45 per cent, a rainfall of a little over 7 Inches, 200 clear, 105 partly cloudy and 60 cloudy i i - - days, and an average hourly wind ve-locity ve-locity of 10 miles, Modena may be said to possess a most favorable climate for j)-a j)-a permanent residence. Considering all of tho advantages which Modena possesses, and to' which ll reftrence has been made, there Is ap-parently ap-parently ovory reason for beliving that It will become, within a few years, a Mk very substantial town. Certainly no tiiH point on tho San Pedro road, this side of the California State line, has greater ffr possibilities!. - H. McP BALDWIN. ( f W |